Delivery of slivers from textile machines into cans



Feb. 11, 1930. J. P. MACKIE 1,747,017

DELIVERY OF SLIVERS FROM TEXTILE MACHINES INTO CANS Filed Feb. 27, 1929 12 12 i'jf HTTORNfVS' Patented Feb. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN PRINGLE MACKIE, OF BELFAST, IRELANDsAsslG-NOR TO JAMES MACKIE AND SONS LIMITED, OF ALBERT FOUNDRY, BELFAST,; IRELAND, A BRITISH COMPANY DELIVERY OF SLIVERS FROM TEXTILE MACHINES INTO CANS Application filed February 27, 1829, Serial No.'342,969, and in Great Britain May 18, 1928.

This invention relates to the delivery of slivers from textile machines into cans. Many attempts have been made to carry out such delivery so that the sliver is packed in a regular manner in the can, for if that is and the subsequent unfolding of the sliver, in order to carry out further operations upon it, is rendered diflicult. It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for piling sliver into cans in a zigzag manner which would be relatively simple and more satisfactory than devices hitherto employed.

According to the present invention, the sliver is delivered to a pair of rollers turning inwardly with respect to each other about their parallel axes substantially at right angles to the width of the sliver but at a linear speed somewhat less than that at which the sliver is supplied to the rollers. The gap between the surfaces of the two rollers is rather less than the width of the sliver, and these surfaces engage the edges of the sliver, which is delivered to them near the rear end thereof somewhat obliquely. The result of the difference of peripheral speeds is that the sliver is retarded and tends to bulge upwardly and,

forwardly in an arched form. At the same time the sliver passing between the rollers travels forwards. Before it reaches the front end of the rollers this arch collapses under its own weight and lies along nearly the whole length of the rollers. This section of sliver passes almost at once between the rollers'and the initial conditions are repeated. Thus the sliver is repeatedly folded on itself and therefore enters the can in zig-zag form. The can is reciprocated transversely to the width of the sliver so that the zig-zags are drawn out sideways and occupy the full width of the can.

- The two rollers referred to are preferably placed justabovethe mouth of the can and may be associated with two or more additional rollers so that all the rollers act as presser rollers when the can becomes filled, to roll down the sliver and pack it into the can in a satisfactory manner. In orderto enable a can to 'be removed and replaced by an empty can when full, the sliver may be supplied over an inclined delivery plate, and at the instant a full can is removed, it may be nipped and moment. not arranged, the can is not properly filled A form of construction of a sliver deliv ery arrangement in accordance with the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of the delivery end of a carding engine to which the improved arrangement is applied. 7

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation at right angles to Figure 1 of the upper part of the mechanism taken on the line IIII in Figure 1.

As shown in the drawings, the sliver is being fed into a can a carried on a platform 6, and a can 0 is empty and is waiting to take the place of the can a when the latter is full. During the filling, the platform I) and the cans are reciprocated by means of a crank (Z, connecting rod 6, and an upstandingbracket 7 carried by the platform 6 to which the connecting rod 6 is attached.

The carding engine is provided with the usual pair of delivery rollers g g and an inclined delivery plate It is mounted in front of the roller g in such a way that the sliver has to pass over the plate It on its way to the can a. The cans a and 0 are substantially elliptical in plan, and as can be seen, are reciprocated in the direction of the major axes of the cans.

Between the lower end of the delivery plate It and the top of the can a there are mounted two rollers and 70 with their axes at right angles to the width of the sliver, and consequently at right angles to the major axis of the can a. The rollers 10*, is? are driven from a spindle I through bevel wheels 772 and m so as to turn inwardly as shown by the arrows in Figure 1. In other words, the roller 70 turns clockwise and the roller 70 counter-clockwise, but at speeds such that the linear sped of the surfaces of the rollers is rather less than that of the delivery rollers 9 g of the .carding engine. Furthermore, the width of the gap between therollers k and 10 as seenin Figure 1, is rather less than the width of the sliver shown diagrammatically at n. The rollers 70 engage the edges of the sliver, which initially is fed to the rear ends thereof down the inclined plate h. The effect of the retardation due to the slower peripheral speed of the rollers 70, 76 will be clear from Figure 2. The line w indicates the form which the sliver first takes on entering these rollers. Owing to the retardation the sliver by degrees takes the form indicated by the lines in and a, bulging upwardly and forwardly and at the same time travelling forward between the rollers. lVhen it reaches the position indicated at 2, its weight causes it to collapse to the position shown by the dotted line y. Thus the sliver is folded back upon itself. That part of it which is adjacent the plate It presently assumes the position indicated at w so that the initial conditions are renewed and the same cycle of operations is repeated. Thus the sliver has imparted to it a more or less regular zig-zag form solely by reason of the retardation aforesaid. 3

After passing through the rollers 7c, 70 the legs of the zig-zag tend to fall apart again owing to gravity. The distance through which it falls is, however, so small that substantially no opening out of the zig-zags takes place, particularly as this form is rendered more or less permanent by the lateral pressure exerted by the rollers. Further, the folds lay themselves flat together as soon as they reach the bottom of the can or the fold previously laid.

The velocity ratio between the rollers g, and 7c, 79 can be varied within wide limits. depending on the character of the sliver. It may for example be 3:2. Owing to the reciprocation of the can the successive folds are drawn out sideways so that the whole width of the can is occupied.

In order that the sliver piled up in the can a may be compressed and packed into the can satisfactorily, a pair ofadditional rollers 0 0 is arranged above the can a, the rollers being parallel to the rollers m and 721 while the roller 0 is outside the roller m and is driven similarly to it and in the same clock-' wise direction, while the roller 0 is driven in the same direction as the roller lcflthat is in a counter-clockwise direction, Thus, when the can is practically filled with sliver, the four rollers, '0 7: 7m 0 act to roll down the sliver and press the same into the can so that as the can reciprocates below the rollers, the sliver is packed firmly into the can.

hen the can ais, full, it is moved to the left and replaced by the empty can 0.. This may be effe ted y hand, or, f. course, by an automatic, ClOfilllg' niechcanism such as that set forth. in my co pending appli ation Serial No. M3524;- In either case, it is desirable when the can a is being removed, that the supply of sliver should be temporarily stopped. For this purpose, a cover or hood 1? is mounted to swing down into the position shown in chain lines in Figure 2, about an axis 9. This may be effected by hand if the cans are shifted by hand, or mechanically if the dofling of the cans is automatic. The effect when the cover p is lowered is to retain the sliver on the delivery plate h and only allow it to fall into the empty can 0 when the latter has fully arrived in its position to receive the sliver. The cover 7) is then lifted and the can 0 continues to be filled as already described.

It will be noted that there is a positive gearing connection between the spindle 1' of the lower delivery roller g and the rollers 70 and 72 so that the definite speed relationship can be maintained. This gearing comprises bevel wheels s, a chain 6, and the bevel gearing m and m already referred to.

It will be appreciated that although the invention has been described in the above example in its application to a carding engine, it can be applied equally well to any textile machine which is intended to deliver sliver to be received in cans.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, comprising a pair of rollers arranged above the can with their axes at right angles to the width of the sliver, a driving mechanism connected to said rollers to rotate them in opposite directions so that their upper surfaces move inwardly, aud means for delivering sliver to the bite of said rollers near one end thereof at a speed greater than the peripheral speed of said rollers.

2. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, comprising a pair of rollers arranged above the can with their axes at right angles to the width of the sliver, spaced apart with a. gap between them less than the width of the sliver and driven to rotate in opposite directions so that their upper surfaces move inwardly, and means for delivering sliver to the bite of said rollers near one end thereof at a speed greater than the peripheral speed of .said rollers.

3. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, comprising a pair of rollers arranged above the can and frictionally engaging the edges of the sliver, means for rotating them to urge the sliverdownwardly, and means for delivering sliver to. the bite of said rollers near one end thereof in a direction inclined to the. vertical at a speed less than the peripheral speed of said rollers.

A 4. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, comprising a pair of rollers arranged above the can and frictionally engaging the edges of the sliyer, means for rotating them to urge the sliver downwardly, a pair of sliver delivery rollers situated above said rollers at one. end thereof, engaging the faces of the sliver and means for rotating them at a peripheral speed greater than that of the rollers first mentioned.

5. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, comprising a pair of rollers arranged above the can and frictionally engaging the edges of the sliver, means for rotating them to urge the sliver downwardly, a pair of sliver-delivery rollers situated above said rollers at one end thereof, engaging the faces of the sliver, means for rotating them at a peripheral speed greater than that of the rollers first mentioned, a support for the can, and means for reciprocating said can horizontally in a direction transverse to the axes of said rollers first mentioned.

6. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, comprising a pair of rollers arranged above'the can and frictionally engaging the edges of the sliver, means for rotating them to urge the sliver downwardly, a pair of sliver-delivery rollers situated above said rollers at one end thereof, engaging the faces of the sliver, and positive gearing between said delivery rollers and the rollers first mentioned to cause said delivery rollers to rotate them at a greater peripheral speed than the rollers first mentioned.

7. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, consisting of a reciprocating carriage for a can, a pair of rollers with parallel axes at right angles to the direction of motion of said support, said rollers being spaced apart to leave a gap between them, driving means operatively connected to said rollers for rotating them in opposite directions so that their upper surfaces move inwardly, a pair of delivery rollers transversely mounted above the rollers first mentioned at one end thereof and engaging the faces of the sliver, an inclined delivery plate extending between said delivery rollers and the rollers first mentioned, and means for causing the peripheral speed of the delivery rollers to be always greater than that of the rollers first mentioned.

8. A mechanism for delivering sliver into cans, consisting of a reciprocating carriage to support a can, a pair of rollers with parallel axes at right angles to the direction of movement of said carriage, an inclined delivery plate above said rollers, means for feeding sliver over said plate on to said rollers at a speed greater than the peripheral speed of said rollers, a hood movably supported above said plate, mechanism for lowering and raising said hood in driving connection with said rollers, whereby said hood is lowered to nip the sliver on said' delivery plate when a can has been filled.

In :witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 8th day of February, 1929.

JACK P. MAOKIE. 

